Calaveras Author Documents Unique Stories About County’s Historical Dogs
Valley Springs, CA — A local author has released a new book, Barking up the Big Trees: The Historic Dogs of a California County.
It is the latest offering from Salvatore John Manna, a local historian who earlier authored or co-wrote several books with Arcadia Publishing on topics like Angels Camp and Copperopolis, Northern Calaveras County, and Olives in California’s Gold Country. He has also published seven books with Calaveras History Publishing, the imprint of the nonprofit Society for the Preservation of West Calaveras History, of which he is the founder and President.
Asked about how he came up with his latest topic, he responded, “I love dogs, and have competed with my Australian Shepherds at stockdog trials for many years. When I started to do research in local history about 20 years ago, I began collecting newspaper stories as well as vintage photographs involving Calaveras County dogs. A few months ago, I decided it was finally time for a book, but I thought it would be a small one, maybe 150 pages. But as I delved deeper, I was surprised by how many great photographs were available. It was actually difficult to keep the book to 300 pages!”
A tease promoting the release notes that it is the first book published anywhere to focus on the dogs of a single county. Adding, “The book spans the 1860s to the 1970s, from dogs of the Gold Rush to the famed Maggie Lee featured in Rolling Stone magazine, from Native Americans with their dogs to the canine companions of renowned cattle queen Mrs. Ethel Adams, from portraits of children with their dogs to those of hunting dogs and stockdogs and, of course, dogs at the Calaveras Big Trees groves of giant Sequoias. ”
Locally, the book, which retails for $30, is available at the Angels Camp Museum, Calaveras County Historical Society (San Andreas), Mokelumne Hill History Society, Big Trees State Park, and at the Valley Springs News. It is also available online via Amazon.
